Single staking for coyotes

Will a 24inch rebar stake hold a coyote?

Probably, but depends on the soil.

maybe if you have a 3 foot long trap chain. you can increase its holding power considerably by putting a little bend in it about 6 inches up from the bottom.

these are great. cross staked rebar will result in almost 0 failures. https://www.ebay.com/c/1833137307

My stakes are 18 - 20 inches and our soil is a little better than sandy. Most of the time it will be fine but I have had coyotes jack a few out. Now I just double cross stake, that they don't pull. If I know I want the trap in that location for a long period of time I cable stake them.

Not here unless you run eight foot of chain and that's iffy.

32 inch you can sleep better at night, a little rain or warm up and bad things can happen. Been using wolf fangs for years now I really like the cable stake idea and it worked well in the mud we had this year.

You can cross stake disposables.
Those bent stakes hold well but they can be a bear to drive.

When pulling a staked trap I'd wiggle the stake a little and pull it out by hand. I tried pulling cable stakes and figured my guts were going to come out first. Do yourself a favor and use cable stakes.

Sorry I went off topic and didn't answer your question.

I wouldn't do it here on a single stake. One day it could be rock solid ground and hold well, then a good soaking rain or a big warmup thaw can make the soil completely mucked and it wouldnt hold one very well at all.i cross stake with rebar and no issues. Single stakes, yes there will be issues.
Always stake for an elephant. Better safe than sorry.
Jim

How do you guys pull these stakes out of the ground?

Heck no, not in the soil I have, they can pump a 30" one out.
Earth anchors best stake a person can use.
Double stakes mean twice the amount of stakes compared to single.
Earth anchors, you can carry fifty in one hand
Earth anchors have Superior swiveling compared to a stake too, a thief rarely pulls and anchor. I didn't loose 3-4 traps because they couldn't pull it

I use Wolf fang Anchors...no rebar anymore for me . If I went back I'd cross stake.

I guess I’ll double stake.

For cable stakes I used a pick mattock.

Last time I was down in MO it was like a gravel pit driving a steel stake was a challenge I either came back out easily or never would.

I have been cross staking with 14" rebar and it seems to hold tight...I can't pull them up by the trap, anyhow.
We have clay or black loam mostly. If it was muddy or Sandy I'd run an 18" Berkshire cable I think...but I just started K9 trapping

I trap every thing from farm ground to pasture and mountains I almost always use a 24 inch chain and dog knot stake catch 30 to 50 coyotes a year and never had one pump a stake. Rebar will get you in trouble especially with a short chain and a swivel that catches the stake. They stopped making the dog knot stakes years ago and they can be an SOB to pull but they work and if you do have a dog pull one they act like a drag. You can make one by using smooth cold rolled steel and heating or grinding a point the heat and flare the top or weld and driving head. Then weld an inch long bead 4 inches up from the point on each side of the stake and stagger the weld. The concept is when you drive the stake you create a larger hole because of the knot, the earth is constantly caving in and shifting the soil which fills in behind the knot locking the stake in. Wish they still made them and might be an opportunity for someone that works metal. With a 24 inch chain they have a hard time pumping with that stake, with rebar the swivel acts like a jack when they jump pulls the stake up the stake stays up a half inch the swivel slides down and catches the rebar. Coyote jumps up stake goes up swivel slides down and it keeps going up. If you use rebar double stake or go to an earth anchor.

Not a good idea to pull any stake by the trap. Unless you like working on traps.

I love using the superstakes, I put them on with j-hooks and tack weld them and I'm good to go all season and don't have to lug around all that rebar. I lost one eith a 24" stake 3 years ago and I switched to the superstakes and have been very pleased

I held a lot of coyotes in single staked traps with 1/2" x 24" rebar stakes before I got on trapperman and found out it can not be done. Did it with Duke 1.5's too, just added a little chain and bubble welded the jaw tips and welded the j-hooks. Man was I stupid. Won't happen again!

The gumbo here in kansas will hold 24 inch rebar , I use 30 in. Of chain and never had a problem. Factory length chain and rebar wouldn't be good.

i always cross stake they will not pull out.

In what solid rock heck yeah it will. In sand, not so much. All things are relative but a good rule of thumb is if you can pull out a single stake they can pump it out too. Again, all things are relative. The longer the chain you use the less they can jack it upward but with a long chain you deal with some physics that might disappoint you a time or 30. Don't forget about the cable stakes and drags if you are in problematic ground. I myself love tracking a drag mark.

Daggum Iowegians stirrin' the pot again I see.
Maybe the guy who set you straight was the the one who explained to me how stupid I was for using a limb for a drag. I still think if he had more hedge (osage orange) where he lived he might have let me slide a little bit LOL

Double stake only as a coyote will pump the single stake out of the ground.

Long handle crowbar with 12" piece of 2x4 under crowbar (wet/muddy ground)

Can double stake with 2 12inch stakes?

Not if you run a longer chain.

I double stake with 18in rebar. Stake pumping is another reason I love shock springs.

If the stake swivel can't slide down the stake to get a new bite a coyote can't pump a single stake.

I also ran with 20” smooth stakes and 28” to 30” of chain before I found out how wrong it was by reading these pages , lol . I also held a sixty five pound coon hound for years with the same stake and fifteen foot of chain, just didn’t know I couldn’t. !

Long chains make sense but I have a real problem burying that much chain at the set. Earth anchors or double stake with 2 18" smooth rods and 12" of chain.

What part of your soil conditions dictate that not what some guy on the internet tells you?
If its frozen hard and not going to thaw you might get away with it once or twice. In any other condition and you will probably loose the coyote and your rig

The only reason I pulled by the trap was to see if/how those stakes would hold. I figured if I couldn't budget the trap then a coyote wasn't going to.

I am 6'4, 230 lbs and had significant mechanical advantage compared to a coyote as I was able to pull directly up at 180 degrees to the anchor point. When it came time to pull the traps, I needed a crowbar to get things moving.

Again, take that for what it is worth... I have set a grand total of 10 K9 traps in my career and have yet to catch a coyote (I have caught a red fox... yes, just one)

Exactly right

I have had 3-4 pump a 30" stake after a rain on a 7' snare, even 7 feet they can pump one out, I have yet to have a 37" stake pumped out on a snare

Possibly

I've had 30" stakes pulled with 7' snare, but never a 37" stake

I use a lot of single stakes. On “short” chain too.

But I have very dense, very hard ground. Even when wet (to an extent). Gumbo clay is a different beast. I’ve gone back to pull stakes in the spring and had single stake rebar pull WAY harder than the wolf fangs.

Most mine are 27-30”. But I’ve used a lot of 24” in frozen ground. I’ve even used smooth beet rod in really hard ground.

A good rule of thumb, if you can stand over a freshly driven stake and with moderate effort pull it up by hand, it might not hold. A stake is easiest to pull immediately after driving all else equal. Once the ground settles or frost seizes it in it’ll hold better.

Danny gave good advice too. Pound the stake in till 6-8” is left, put a good 20ish degree bend in it and finish driving it. Really increases holding power.

What you run on the end of the chain makes a difference too. This single stake swivels are awful. Custom made for jacking. A welded lap link (cold shut) is better. Harder to get a “bite” on the stake.

All depends on the ground. Sandy, loamy, “light” soils, you better cross stake or use anchors.

Like I said, the gumbo clay common in many parts of the west is a different beast. Very fine particulate (lots of bentonite in it), and very dense when in its “virgin state”.

No. You might get away with it a few times though.

Wyoming was the same, yellow clay was real firm, I already started using anchors by the time I started going to Wyoming, in the early nineties, here soft lake bed farm dirt, you better use an anchor.
I put a 37" in for snares if 30" goes in too easy

You think 18in rebar will hold in Wyoming mountain soil? New to trapping and didn't realize before setting traps I should have crossed staked.

Maybe. If your pounding into a rock it will, if its that soft dry black dirt it will not. If your using one stake you need a long chain. 30 inchs or more so it wont be pumping it up out the ground. Grab your trap and start pulling. You will know if it will hold or not. Coyotes are strong.